Catnapped (A Klepto Cat Mystery) Read Free

two women nodded in agreement.
    Savannah walked over to the sideboard. She selected three mugs and carried them to the counter, placing them next to the coffeepot. She then removed a chair from around the kitchen table so her aunt could roll up closer. Max took a seat next to Margaret, and Savannah sat opposite him. She looked over at Max. “You know, when I first began to hear all the hype encouraging people to get their cats spayed and neutered, I was actually afraid that cats would become extinct and there would be no more kittens. I mean, a world without kittens—how dismal is that?”
    Max looked down at Rags, who was rubbing against his leg. He ran his hand over the cat’s coat and gave him a scratch behind the ear. “Dismal indeed,” he agreed. And then he leaned back, his eyes focused on something behind Savannah and said, “I was a relative latecomer to the movement —if you would call it that. But my grandmother was a woman before her time when it came to the welfare of cats. She was known as the cat lady , and I don’t think in a kind way. Now she would probably be considered a hoarder .”
    Savannah put an elbow on the table and rested her chin on the palm of her hand. She looked over at Max and asked, “When was this?”
    “She had cats from the time I was a small child—in the late 1950s. She was always hauling a cat to the vet to be spayed or neutered or to be treated for an abscess, worms, broken bones—you name it. And it didn’t matter if it was her cat or not. Many of the cats wound up as her cats. She had big wire cages out behind her house, full of cats. I loved it. When I was a kid, going to Granny Jeffers was like visiting a zoo—a cat zoo.” He paused for a few seconds as if relishing the memory.
    Savannah stood and walked over to the counter. “So how did she end up with so many cats?”
    “Word got around and people started using her yard as a dumping ground for stray cats or cats they no longer wanted.”
    “Or maybe cats just found their way to her,” Margaret suggested. She looked up at Savannah and explained, “We’re finding that stray or abandoned cats seem to have a way of locating colonies where they can get fed and be relatively safe.”
    “Well, Granny Jeffers sounds like a kitty angel,” Savannah said while placing two mugs of steaming coffee on the table. “Cream?” she asked.
    “No, black,” Max responded. “Thanks.”
    “You don’t use cream, do you, Auntie?”
    “Just a tad of sugar.” Margaret reached for the cut-glass sugar bowl. And then she said, “Max has followed in his grandmother’s footsteps. He has quite a wonderful facility next door.”
    “Oh, so you rescue cats?” Savannah asked, sitting down at the table with her cup of coffee.
    Max wrapped his hands around his coffee mug and stared into the black liquid. “Rescue, treat, rehabilitate, adopt, relocate—whatever it takes.”
    “He’s one of those kitty angels,” Margaret quipped.
    “If only we could save and protect them all,” Max said, suddenly turning sullen. He then glanced up and sat back in his chair. “Sorry ladies, I didn’t mean to gloom up your morning.”
    ***
    Meanwhile in another part of town, two fourteen-year-old boys stood on a corner. The taller one pulled his jacket collar up around his ears which were covered by a dark knit cap. He peered up and down the street. “So do you think that guy will show?”
    The second boy scrunched his hands deep into the pockets of his hooded sweatshirt. “Heck, who knows. He’s one creepy guy. But the work’s not bad for the pay.”
    “Yeah, if we don’t get caught.” The first boy looked up in time to see a vehicle slowing. “That’s him. You get in first.”
    “Why?”
    “Just friggin’ do it,” he said in a loud whisper as the automobile stopped alongside the pair and the passenger door swung open.
    “Git in, kids; we don’t have all day,” the man inside said impatiently. He didn’t seem to notice the